


Everybody Wants to Be a Cat

by kstrumpets



Category: IDOLiSH7 (Video Game)
Genre: "major character death", (metaphorically), (sort of), Catboys, Established Relationship, Fluff, Iori Dies, M/M, Minor part 2 spoiler reference, Multi, Teasing, iori is an easy target and tenn takes advantage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-18
Updated: 2019-08-18
Packaged: 2020-09-07 00:24:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20300413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kstrumpets/pseuds/kstrumpets
Summary: “Wh-what? What is the meaning of this?” Iori’s voice is hitched up a few octaves, eyes flitting rapidly between his boyfriends’ accessories.“What is the meaning of what?” Tenn asks innocently, raising a hand and batting it like a paw. “I thought you knew that Tamaki and I are cats?” A smirk forms as he adds, “I’m your Tenten-chan.”





	Everybody Wants to Be a Cat

**Author's Note:**

> i'm back with my second flashbang fic! for this one, i was with [@J3ushu](https://twitter.com/J3ushu)!
> 
> enjoy! i know tenn sure does because flustered iori is Cute

Tenn winces when something reflects into his eye. He stops walking, staring at whatever the sun is hitting on Iori’s bag.

It’s a small acrylic cat charm. 

He smirks internally. How cute. He wonders if Iori knows that the charm is in plain sight. Probably not, since he tries so hard to hide his true interests. 

Tenn glances over at Tamaki, who closes his eyes as he takes another bite of his pudding with a blissful smile on his face. He has no idea what Tenn sees, which means it’s up to him to say something—and embarrass Iori in the process. 

“Hey, Iori. What’s that on your bag?” He can see clearly what it is, but it makes Tamaki look. Maybe Tamaki’ll vouch for him when Iori inevitably lies about the charm 

Turning around sharply, Iori takes off his bag to examine it. With wide eyes, as predicted, he all but shoves the charm under a flap to hide it. “Nothing! A zipper must have been loose. Why, did you see something?” Iori is speaking calmly, but his eyes are still wide, frowning subtly. 

Tenn doesn’t hesitate to go for the kill. “Do zippers usually have cat ears and a tail?” 

Lost for words, Iori’s mouth falls open—he certainly doesn’t seem to be calm anymore. “Are you sure it wasn’t a trick of the light?” he finally asks. 

Tenn puts his hand on his chin as if in thought. “Perhaps, but I know a charm when I see one.” 

Iori bites his lip. He almost looks cornered, but that isn’t the reaction Tenn is looking for. “Charm? What do you mean?” Oh, so he’s still feigning innocence. 

“Tamaki, did you see anything?” Tenn turns his gaze to Tamaki. 

Tamaki puts his spoon back into his pudding and lets it sit. “I saw Iorin has a cat charm! I think.” He tips his head and “Iorin, do you like cats, too? Why didn’t you tell us?” 

Iori purses his lips before he replies with a sigh, “Yes, I like cats. What about it?” 

“You have no reason to hide this, Iori,” Tenn replies. He’s disappointed that Iori didn’t get flustered, but he won’t tease his boyfriend about something he’s just as guilty of. “After all, we have a cat here, with us.” He jerks his head in Tamaki’s direction. 

Tamaki looks confused for a moment before it seems to click. He puts up his hood, playing with the cat ears to make sure they’re standing up. 

“Yeah, meow. I even have cat ears, meow.” Tamaki’s voice goes into a falsetto as he meows. Tenn’s chest tightens. Adorable. 

The reaction seems doubled on Iori. A blush heats his cheeks, and he stares at Tamaki with a gaping mouth. “Y-Yotsuba-san?! What are you doing?” 

Tamaki brings up a hand and bats it like it’s a paw. “I’m a cat, meow. So is Tenten, meow.” 

Without missing a beat, Tenn copies Tamaki’s gesture, his face entirely impassive as he stares Iori straight in the eye and lets out a monotonous ‘Nya.’ 

Iori’s jaw seems to drop even further. He stares hard at the ground as he forces his mouth closed, covering it with a hand as though that alone will help him regain his composure, but his face is so red that all of his efforts are fruitless. When he does glance up again, Tenn changes his expression drastically: his head is tilted slightly to the side, he has a small smile, and he gives the best puppy-dog—no, kitty-cat—eyes that he can manage. 

Iori freezes for a few seconds before he lets out a very strained, very high-pitched “Cute.” Turning even more red, he averts his gaze to Tamaki. 

Tamaki smiles brightly and pulls Iori into an embrace. “Iorin, look! We found the cat we were looking for before!” 

Iori is wordless for a moment before he tries to get out of the hug, putting a hand on his shoulder. “I asked you to not bring that up again. It was a mistake.” 

That grabs Tenn’s attention. “Bring what up?” He steps closer as Iori looks mortified. 

“Nothing! It’s in the past, so there’s no need to mention it. Right, Yotsuba-san?” Iori’s talking too fast. This obviously isn’t ‘nothing’. 

“Oh, but I love hearing about the things you guys do,” Tenn replies with a too-innocent voice. He’s enjoying this too much. 

Iori tries to hide his face in Tamaki’s chest, but his burning cheeks are impossible to miss. He lets out a groan, as if their boyfriend shields him from Tenn, before he straightens and breaks out of Tamaki’s hold. His face is still red, but other than that, he has a neutral expression again as he looks at Tenn. 

“I made a mistake. You were visiting Nanase-san, and Yotsuba-san called you ‘Tenten’ without informing me that he was referring to you. I thought he meant that there was a cat in Nanase-san’s room, which would be harmful to his condition.” Iori’s voice is calm considering how his blush still hasn’t faded. He also keeps covering his mouth with his hand, and when he’s finished speaking, he coughs into a fist. 

Tenn holds back a smile. “Did you two search for a cat that wasn’t there?” 

Iori freezes. He doesn’t reply, looking anywhere except Tenn. Tamaki does answer, however. “Yeah! I was confused why Iorin was looking for a kitten, but it was fun to look.” His face suddenly screws up in a frown. “Well, it was until we came back and all my King Pudding was gone.” 

Tenn lets out a single, soft laugh. “That’s pretty cute. I would’ve liked to see a real cat.” The soft fur, quiet but steady purring, warm bodies... He never had a chance to have a cat while he was younger, when his parents would avoid anything that could potentially make Riku’s asthma worse and definitely when he was under Kujou-san’s mentorship, but he would never turn down the chance to see a cat when he could. 

“Me too,” comes a soft reply from Iori. “I… was a little disappointed, although I was relieved that there was nothing to harm Nanase-san.” He looks strained, like he’s hesitant to cave and stop denying that he loves cats. 

“I want a pet cat one day,” Tamaki adds in. “I love them almost as much as I love King Pudding.” 

Iori glances at Tamaki. He pauses before he admits, “I do stop and look into pet store windows whenever I pass. I would love to have a cat one day, too.” He’s quiet and looks ready to bolt, but at least he’s opening up. 

“Then we’re agreed,” Tenn finishes. “All three of us want a pet cat.” Even while he says that, an idea comes to mind. The smile he has curves into a smirk as he starts to make plans. 

\--- 

Tenn glances into his bag one more time before he knocks on the door to IDOLiSH7’s dorms. He doesn’t have to wait very long before he hears Tamaki’s muffled shout of “I’ll get it!” on the other side, the sound of running, and the door opening to reveal him looking a little out of breath. 

“Tenten! Come on!” Tamaki grabs Tenn by the wrist as he pulls him inside the dorms. 

Surprised by how excited his boyfriend is, Tenn lets Tamaki drag him along. They don’t stop until they get to Iori’s door, which Tenn could’ve gone to easily on his own with how often he comes over. 

“Iorin! We’re coming in!” Tamaki calls as the only warning before he opens the door and pulls Tenn inside with him. 

Iori looks surprised as they come in, but he doesn’t look bothered. Tamaki probably barges in without warning all the time, Tenn realizes. When the door is shut, Tenn recollects himself so that he can pull off his plans. 

“Kujou-san? You didn’t say you were coming over today. Is there anything you need?” Iori is always so formal even with his boyfriends. They’ve tried to get him to lighten up, but he seems hesitant to let down any walls in that regard. 

“Do I need a reason to see my boyfriends?” Tenn asks innocently, his side-bang swaying slightly as he tips his head to the side. Sure, he does have other intentions, but he really does love spending time with Tamaki and Iori, even when they don’t do anything special. 

“No…” Iori stutters. He glances towards the ground, a light blush dusting his cheeks before he looks up again at Tenn. “I suppose you don’t need a reason for that.” His eyes briefly flit down in the direction of the bag before he makes eye contact. “What do you have?” 

“Oh, this?” Tenn asks, letting a small smirk form as he holds up the bag. He reaches inside it and pulls out a container of pudding. Tamaki’s eyes light up as he hands it over. “I forgot a spoon for him, though. Would you mind getting one?” He carefully crafts his words, tilting his head again. 

Eyes narrowing slightly, Iori searches Tenn’s expression. “Why me?” He doesn’t find anything, though, if his sigh as he stands up says anything. He glances over his boyfriends one more time before he heads to the door. “Very well. Don’t get into trouble while I’m gone.” 

As soon as the door is closed, Tenn moves quickly. He walks over to Iori’s bed, dumps the contents of the bag out, and turns to Tamaki. 

“Which color do you want?” Tenn asks, gesturing to the pile. What’s there is three sets of cat ears and tails. He considered buying fake paws, too, but he opted out of it. He grabs the pink set since he already knows he wants them. 

Tamaki glances over them before he walks over and grabs the lighter grey ears and tail. They match his hair color almost exactly, so it makes sense to Tenn. He puts the other set back in the bag. 

“The tail is so fluffy!” Tamaki comments, stroking the tail as he talks and causing it to fluff up further. “How do I put them on?” 

Tenn puts on the ears, which are attached to a headband. He’s careful to not mess up his hair, and he glances in Iori’s mirror to make sure the ears are placed properly on his head. Tamaki copies him. 

“Okay, for the tail, it hooks onto your pants. Turn around.” Tamaki follows Tenn’s orders. 

By the time Iori comes back in, Tamaki is still putting Tenn’s tail on. He grabs onto the tail and finishes it himself when the door moves. Iori doesn’t seem to notice the differences yet, handing the spoon to Tamaki. However, when he sees that the pudding is on his bed, he must be surprised that it would’ve been put down and glances over Tamaki. His eyes widen and rush between Tenn and Tamaki as everything seems to set in. 

“Wh-what? What is the meaning of this?” Iori’s voice is hitched up a few octaves, eyes flitting rapidly between his boyfriends’ accessories. 

“What is the meaning of what?” Tenn asks innocently, raising a hand and batting it like a paw much like he did a few days ago. “I thought you knew that Tamaki and I are cats?” A smirk forms as he adds, “I’m your Tenten-chan.” 

The reaction is instantaneous—flustered, Iori goes red, his gaze finally torn away from the ears as he looks towards the ground. Then he spots the tails, his jaw falls open, and he looks completely away from both Tenn and Tamaki. “I didn’t expect anything like _ this _ to happen,” he finally utters, quietly. 

“Are we cute, Iori?” Tenn asks, stepping closer while he tries to get back into Iori’s view. “I bought them just for us.” He puts a hand on his mortified boyfriend’s shoulder. 

Iori jumps slightly and looks at Tenn. His face is even more red. “Is this at all related to your acting the other day?” he asks. How he still manages to sound calm is beyond Tenn. 

“This? No, we’re just being cats for you. Just like you want, right?” Tenn glances over at Tamaki, who’s been quiet, only to see that he’s eating his pudding eagerly. He shouldn’t be surprised, he supposes. He looks back to Iori and smiles ever so slightly. “I hope you like them.” 

Iori stutters for a second before he mutters, “Too cute.” His eyes widen in shock after he realizes what he says. After a moment, he sighs and drops his head. 

Tenn laughs softly. _ Iori’s _ too cute. He tries so hard to hide how he really feels about different things, yet when he’s confronted, it’s so obvious that he’s denying it. “I’m glad,” Tenn all but purrs. He’s purposefully being flirty, and it’s worth it when Iori tenses up. 

“K-Kujou-san...” Iori turns his gaze towards Tamaki, and he almost looks like he’s searching for help. 

Tenn turns his head to see what happens. Tamaki takes the last bite of his pudding and sets down the empty cup—if Iori wasn’t a mess, he definitely would be telling him off—and walks over. Without warning, he pulls both Tenn and Iori into a hug that presses all three of them together. 

“Yay! Iorin thinks we’re cute!” he exclaims. Tenn feels rather than hears Iori’s breath hitch. 

“O-of course I do,” Iori whispers, just loud enough that he wouldn’t have been heard if he wasn’t pressed against his boyfriends. “I wouldn’t be dating you two if I didn’t think so.” It’s obvious without seeing that he’s blushing. 

Tenn can’t manage much with the way Tamaki is holding their heads against his shoulders, but he can grab Iori’s hand and squeezes lightly. 

Iori makes a small noise, but he squeezes back. 

“By the way, Iori, I bought you cat ears and a tail, too,” Tenn adds in. 

“What?!” 

**Author's Note:**

> disclaimer: i did change what tenn calls iori and tamaki b/c would he really still call his bfs "izumi iori" and "yotsuba tamaki"
> 
> i can't believe this is the second iotamatenn fic on ao3. i need to change that  
anyways!
> 
> thank you so much jenn for the amazing art! [here's the link to the tweet](https://twitter.com/J3ushu/status/1163181799301943297?s=20)! make sure you guys show your appreciation & rt it!
> 
> \---
> 
> my twitter is [@mitsumomos](https://twitter.com/mitsumomos)! if you want to see me yell about mostly pythag trio, re:vale, and re:pythag, feel free to follow!  
i also yell about whatever wip i'm working on at the time and/or [my longfic](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19424752), so be warned of that


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